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New charges brought against Oboronservis case suspect

Earlier, eight criminal cases were opened over fraud in the sale of real estate facilities that belonged to the Oboronservis company subordinate to the Defense Ministry

MOSCOW, May 7 (Itar-Tass) - Investigators charged the former director general of a warehouse in the Moscow district of the Air Force, accused in the Oboronservis case, with misusing 260,000 roubles.

"Criminal proceedings against Maxim Zakutailo were opened under Article 160, Part 3 /misappropriation committed by a person using his office powers/," Investigative Committee /SK/ spokesman Vladimir Markin told Itar-Tass on Tuesday.

"It has been ascertained that in June and October 2011, Zakutailo signed two fictitious contracts, under which Anastasia Dyankina had to perform the duties of his aide while Igor Kryukov - the duties of his deputy. Although the persons in question did not arrive at the place of work and never performed their duties, Zakutailo issued illegal instructions to pay wages to them. As a result, the OMS company illegally transferred to them 156,000 and 111,000 roubles, respectively," Markin said.

Zakutailo has been in custody since November 1, 2012.

Earlier, the SK's main military investigation department /GVSU/ opened eight criminal cases over fraud in the sale of real estate facilities that belonged to the Oboronservis company subordinate to the Defense Ministry.

They were pooled in one case and are being investigated under the articles on fraud and exceeding and abusing authority.

Defense Ministry officials selected the most liquid and prestigious assets belonging to the Ministry, including Moscow-based property. As a rule, tremendous budget funds were injected into the property before it was sold at understated prices to commercial bodies affiliated with Oboronservis, the SK reported earlier.

Also, many facilities were purchased with the money stolen from Oboronservis.

The damage is estimated at several billion roubles.

Investigators do not rule out more suspects in the case and an increase in the sum of damage.

Maxim Zakutailo and head of the Defense Ministry’s' economic department Nikolai Ryabykh are under arrest on charges of fraud. Former director of the Defense Ministry’s property department Yevgenia Vasilyeva is under house arrest, and former Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov was questioned as a witness. Zakutailo's wife - former director of the Expert legal support center Yekaterina Smetanova - is on recognizance.

In April, entrepreneur Irina Yegorova was charged with theft of 123 million roubles and placed under arrest.